"Even though our human ancestors lived far different lives than we do, their environments and lifestyles were not protecting them against the development of atherosclerosis."

3. Still a common experience

Despite a wide range of diets and lifestyles among the mummies studied, atherosclerosis was equally common in those from ancient Egypt as from Peru, the American Southwest, and the remote Aleutian Islands. Atherosclerotic calcification that looked virtually identical on CT imaging as a typical patient today was detect in all major arteries of the mummies.

4. Age matters

While the mummy atherosclerosis couldn't be liked to clinical outcomes or symptoms for the most part, in part due to younger age at death and in part because of little soft tissue preservation, the prevalence did appear to rise with age as it does today. Age-related vascular production of protein lamin A -- the mutant form of which is implicated in the accelerated-aging and aggressive-atherosclerosis disorder progeria -- was speculated as a potential additional explanation for the pervasiveness of atherosclerosis across the millennia.